Volcanoes Contributed to Mass Extinction

An analysis of minerals found in southern China shows that there was a set of volcanic eruptions that produced a volcanic winter.

IMAGE: Copper-rich minerals indicating widespread volcanic activity at the end-Permian mass extinction in different regions in southern China (A: Taoshujing locality; B: Lubei locality; C: Guanbachong; D: Taoshujing locality; E: Longmendong locality). The minerals are all copper sulfides, mostly Malachite–the minerals’ green patches. CREDIT: H. Zhang, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology.

Of course, understanding volcanoes today is fantastic. It could help save lives and property. But in geology, what’s past is present, and so it’s also helpful to understand processes and results in the geologic past to also prepare for the possibilities of the future. Which is a long-winded way of saying that a team of scientists have studied the end-Permian extinction 250 million years ago and found that volcanoes added to the demise of 80 to 90 percent of life on Earth.

Published in the journal Science Advances, a new paper provides an analysis of minerals found in southern China that show there was a set of volcanic eruptions that produced a volcanic winter. That winter lowered temperatures around the globe and added stress to the biological systems in existence, adding to the list of causes that wiped out so many species.

This is a multi-step process. First, volcanic eruptions known as the Siberian Traps produced an incredible amount of volcanic rock in Russia’s Siberia province. Those eruptions released a ton of carbon dioxide which decreased the oxygenation of the oceans and killed off marine life…